Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-04-01

family heard the fastening of the door OF
the ark, they were very glad.
Without those doors were fastened, the
first heavy surge of the sea would
have whelmed them; and they might as
well have persisted outside the ark as
inside the ark. THE Lord shut him IN. :"
O, the perfect safety of the ark! The
surf of the sea and the lightnings OF the
sky may be twisted into garland OF
snow and ffre-deep to deep, storm to
storm, darkness to darkness; but once in
the ark, ell is well. "God shut him in"
There comes upon the good man q
deluge of financial trouble. He had his
thousands TO LEND; now he cannot Oorro -
dollar. He Once Owned d store IN New
York, aud had branch houses IN Boston,
Philadelphia, and New Orleans. He
owned four horses, and employed man
to keep the dust off his coach, phaeton,
carriage, and curricle; now he mas hard
work to get shoes III which to walk. Inc
great deep Ct commercial disaster was
broken Up, and fore, and aft, and across
the hurricane deck, the waves strucK
him. But he was safely sheltered from
the storm. 1.-THE Lord shut him IN "
A food Of domestic troubles fell on him
Sickness and bereavement came. The
rain pelted. The wind blew. The
heavens are aflame. All the gardens Of
earthly delight are washed away. The
| fountains OF Joy are buried fifteen CubitS
deep. But, standing by the empty crib,
and in the desOlated nursery, AMI IN the
dOleful ha l,Once airing with merry voices,
now silent forever, he cried: "The Lord
gave, the Lord hath taken away; blessed
| be the name Of the Lord" "The Lord
! - ~l,o e IFats
clamored for his overthrow. The broken
vows, the diShOnOred Sabbaths, the
outrageous profanities, the misdemeanOrs
| of twenty years reached up their hands
to the door of the ark to pull him out
| The boundless ocean Of his sin sur
rounded his soul, bowling like 8
simeon, raving like an euro
/ cIydon. But, looking out of the window,
he sew his sins sink like lead into the
depths Of the sea. The dove Of heaven
brought an olive branch to the ark. The
wrath OF the billow only pushed him to-
ward heaven. "The Lord shut him H."
The same door fastenings that kept
Noah IN keep the world out. l am glad
to know that when q man reaches heaven
all earthly troubles are done with him.
Here he may have had it hard 20 get
bread for his family; there he will never
hunger aIy more. Here ne may nave
wept bitterly; there "the Lamb that is in
the midst of the throne will lead him to
living fountains Of water, and God will
wipe away all tears from his eyes" Here
ne may have hard work TO get house;
but in my Fathers house are many man
sions, and rent-dGy never Com"s. Here
there are GeAth-beds, and collins, and
graves; there no sickness, no weary
watching, no choking cough, no cOnSum-
inS fever, no Chattering chill, no tOltiag
bell, no grave. The sorrows of life shall
come up and knock at the door, but no
admittanCe. The perplexiCieS of life shall
come up and knock on the door, but no
admittaBCe Safe forever! All the agony
Of earth in one wave dasning against the
buwarks Of the ship of celestial light
shall not break them down. Howl on, ye
winds, ard rage, We seas! The Lord
"the Lord shut him in -
0, what grand old door! so wide, so
easily swung both ways. and with such
sure fastenlLgs. No burglars key can
pick that lock. No swarthy arm of hell
can shove back the bolt. l rejoice that
do not ask Ycu 10 come aboard a crazy
craft with leaking hulk, and broken helm,
and unfastened door; but an ark so Cublts
vide and 800 Cubits long, and g door
so large that the round earth, without
gre zing the posts, might be bowled in.
Now if the ark of Christ is so grand
place in which to live and die and tri-
umph, come into the ark. Know we'll
that the door that shut Noah in shut the
world out; and though, when the pitIless
storm came pelting on their heads they
beat upon the door, saying: "Let me
in. Let me in" the door did
not open. For 12O years they
were invited. They expected 10
come in, but the autedeluvians said
eve must cultivate these fields: we must
be worth more fiocks Of sheep and herds
of cattle; we will wait until we get q
little Oldrr; we will enjoy our old farm
Ii tie longer" But meanwhile the storm
was brewing. The fountains OF heaven
were filing up. The pry was being placed
beneath the foundations of the great deep.
The l8st yeSr had come, the last month,
the last week, the last day,
the last hour, the last moment.
In an awful dash, an ocean dropped
from the sky, and another rolled
up from beneath; and God rolled the
earth and sky into one wave Of universal
destruction.
So men now put off going into the ark
They say they will wait twenty years first. |
They will have little longer time with
their worldly associates. They will
wait until they get older. They say
you cannot expect man Of my attain !
ments and of my position to surrender
myself just now. But before the storm |
comes | will go in. Yes, l will l know
what l an about. Trust me-" After |
awhile, one night about y O'Clock, going !
home, he passes s scaff lding as a gust of |
wind strikes If, and plank falls. Dead! |
and outside the ark! Or, riding in the |
park, reckless vehicle crashes into him |
and his horse becomes unmanageable, and |
he shouts "Whoa whoa" and takes !
another twist in the reins and plants MS |
feet against the dashboard and pulls |
back. But no use. 1t is not so much |
down the avenue that he flies as on the |
way to eternity. Out OF the |
wreck of the crash his body is drawn, but |
his soul is not picked up. 1t fed behind .
q swifter courser into the great future.
Dead! and outside the ark. Or, some |
night he wakes up with distress that
increases, until he shrieks
out with pain. The doctors come in, and
they give him twenty drops, but no re-
iIeij loTty uTOpSj uIJy uTOpSJ sixty
drops, but no relief. No time
for prayer. No time to read
one of the promises. No time to
get g single SIN psrdoned The whole
house is aroused in alarm. The children
scream. The wife faints. The pulses
fail. The heart stops TIE soul flies
On, my God! Dead! and outside the ark
l have no doubt thgt derision kept
many people out of the ark. The world